If there’s an audiophile exit ramp, this ain’t it…

@pmiller115

I have almost always maintained that once you reach whatever you consider as perfection and have no interest in moving forward, it is no longer a hobby. Whatever it is becomes a possession that you use but no longer strive to work with and further perfect. I think a hobby is something that occupies your time, your involvement and your interest to move forward with whatever the endeavor happens to be. A stamp collector that no longer collects stamps is no longer a stamp collector but rather becomes a person with a stamp collection.

what you say above is doubtlessly correct

as a point of discussion though, one can justifiably debate whether hifi (the gear) is the hobby, or whether music (the content) is the hobby -- in the latter case one can get off the equipment merry go round and still experience much joy in searching out new music, new performances ...

any pursuit can be taken over the top, one needs to measure, based on one’s own internal compass, what is a positive amount of passion versus what is too much

one also needs self awareness, introspection and self-honesty about whether you are really made happy by the experience of ’chasing’ the next good feeling, and/or whether the continuing chase is counterproductive to other life priorities

that said, i have found over time that it is good to have multiple hobbies and pursuits, and good to take some time and space away from any particular one, so that when you reconnect with that activity it brings good feelings and confirms why you loved it so much in the first place

uh oh the cajones police was walking the beat!  😂😂😂😂

many ways to enjoy the hobby, the pursuit of music and its reproduction

last night, first time in two years, i attended a live concert at sfjazz, with a nice dinner out beforehand

reminded me what live music sounds like, amplified and unamplified

gives a rather different take on what my hifi sounds like as i turn it on today